England beats West Indies in close encounter

England's captain Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara celebrate their partnership as England wins the second ODI.

An unbeaten eighth-wicket 58-run stand between Ravi Bopara and captain Stuart Broad led England to a series-levelling win over West Indies by three wickets on Sunday (March 2).

Both teams performed below average with the bat in the second ODI at North Sound. West Indies lost its last six wickets for 26 runs, eventually folding for 159 in 44.2 overs.

The English spinners proved to be most effective on a dry pitch, with left-arm orthodox bowler Stephen Parry, taking 3 for 32 on debut and being named the Man of the Match.

James Tredwell, Joe Root and Moeen Ali shared five wickets among themselves, with only Lendl Simmons, who top-scored for West Indies with 70, prospered after a top-order failure.

Simmons and Dwayne Bravo threatened to repeat a century partnership from the first ODI, having put on 52 for the fifth wicket, but once this partnership was broken by Tredwell, West Indies slumped to a low total of 159.

On the back of six defeats in its last seven ODIs, England made a mess of what should have been a straight forward chase and was reduced to 105 for 7 in the 32nd over with only two batsmen going past 10.

West Indies thought it was closer to victory when Broad was dismissed upon arrival but umpire Rod Tucker’s on-field decision was reversed by match referee Marais Erasmus. Broad was then dropped by Bravo in the slips on 3. It proved to be game-changing as Broad finished unbeaten on 28 and Bopara on 38 not out to take England over the finish line with five overs to spare.

West Indies had won the series opener by 15 runs on Friday. The third and final ODI will be played at the same venue on Wednesday.